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General election

General election for Governor of Arkansas

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Asa Hutchinson (R)	65.3	582,406
		Jared Henderson (D)	31.8	283,218
		Mark West (L)	2.9	25,885

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	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 891,509
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2022→ ←2014
Governor of Arkansas
Democratic primary Republican primary General election
Election details
Filing deadline:March 1, 2018
Primary: May 22, 2018 Primary runoff: June 19, 2018 (if needed) General: November 6, 2018 Pre-election incumbent(s): Asa Hutchinson (Republican)
How to vote
Poll times: 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Voting in Arkansas
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Republican Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Republican Inside Elections: Solid Republican
Ballotpedia analysis
Federal and state primary competitiveness State executive elections in 2018 Impact of term limits in 2018 State government trifectas State government triplexes Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2018
Arkansas executive elections
Governor Lieutenant governor Attorney general Secretary of state Auditor Treasurer Public lands commissioner

Arkansas held an election forgovernor onNovember 6, 2018. The candidate filing deadline was March 1, 2018.

IncumbentAsa Hutchinson (R) defeated challengersJared Henderson (D) andMark West (L), receiving 65.5 percent of the vote to Henderson's 31.6 percent and West's 2.9 percent. Hutchinson's 65.5 percent share of the vote was greater than any Republican candidate for governor in state history, surpassing the 59.77 percent record set byMike Huckabee (R) in 1998. Clickhere for more.

For more information about the Democratic primary,click here.
For more information about the Republican primary,click here.

For more information about gubernatorial elections in 2018,click here.

Arkansas was one of36 states that held an election forgovernor in 2018.Democrats gained seven previouslyRepublican-held seats, andRepublicans gained one previously independent-held seat. Heading into the 2018 elections, there were16Democratic governors,33Republican governors, and one independent governor. In 2018, 26 of the 33 states with aRepublican governor held a gubernatorial election, while nine out of the 16 states with aDemocratic governor held a gubernatorial election.Seventeen of the36 seats up for election were open seats (four Democratic, 12 Republican, and one independent), meaning that the sitting governor was not seeking re-election. Clickhere for more information on other 2018 gubernatorial elections.

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for Governor of Arkansas

IncumbentAsa Hutchinson defeatedJared Henderson andMark West in the general election for Governor of Arkansas on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Asa Hutchinson (R)	65.3	582,406
		Jared Henderson (D)	31.8	283,218
		Mark West (L)	2.9	25,885

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 891,509
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data?Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Arkansas

Jared Henderson defeatedLeticia Sanders in the Democratic primary for Governor of Arkansas on May 22, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jared Henderson	63.3	67,046
		Leticia Sanders	36.7	38,873

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	There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 105,919
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Governor of Arkansas

IncumbentAsa Hutchinson defeatedJan Morgan in the Republican primary for Governor of Arkansas on May 22, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Asa Hutchinson	69.6	143,648
		Jan Morgan	30.4	62,757

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	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 206,405
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Campaign themes

Asa Hutchinson

Hutchinson’s campaign website stated the following:

Jared Henderson

Henderson’s campaign website stated the following:

Mark West

West’s campaign website stated the following:

Past elections

2014

See also:Arkansas Gubernatorial election, 2014

Hutchinson ran forGovernor of Arkansas in 2014.^[5] He won theRepublican nomination in the primary election on May 20, 2014. He defeatedMike Ross (D),Josh Drake (G) andFrank Gilbert (L) in the general election on November 4, 2014.^[6]

Results

Republican primary

Governor of Arkansas, Republican Primary, 2014
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Asa Hutchinson	73%	130,752
Curtis Coleman	27%	48,473
Total Votes		179,225
Election results viaArkansas Secretary of State.

General election

Governor of Arkansas, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Asa Hutchinson	55.4%	470,429
	Democratic	Mike Ross	41.5%	352,115
	Libertarian	Frank Gilbert	1.9%	16,319
	Green	Josh Drake	1.1%	9,729
Total Votes				848,592
Election results viaArkansas Secretary of State

Race background

Democratic incumbent Gov.Mike Beebe was ineligible for re-election in2014 due to term limits, setting the stage for a competitive race. Over a year before the election, polling figures and ratings reports - from sources such asThe Washington Post,Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball,Governing andDaily Kos - already labeled Beebe's seat as a "toss-up" and labeled Arkansas among the states most vulnerable to partisan switch in the 2014 gubernatorial election cycle.^{[7][8][9][10]}

Despite announcing in December 2012 that he would not run for governor in 2014, former U.S. Rep.Mike Ross (D) re-emerged as a potential candidate in the wake ofstate attorney general and expected front-runnerDustin McDaniel's exit from the race.^[11][12][13] "Dustin McDaniel getting out of the race has left a huge void which clearly none of the other candidates are filling or I wouldn't be getting all these calls from every corner of the state...I'm humbled by that and I feel a sense of duty and responsibility to the people of this state to at least reconsider my decision and I'm doing that," Ross said at U.S. Sen.Mark Pryor's (D-AR) re-election fundraiser in March 2013.^[14] Ross officially launched his campaign on April 17, 2013. The only other declared Democratic candidate at the time of his announcement,Lieutenant GovernorBill Halter, left the race in July when he found himself trailing in fundraising and threw his support behind Ross.^[15][16]

Ross overtookLynette "Doc" Bryant for theDemocratic nomination in the May 20, 2014 primary election.^[17] Former U.S. Rep.Asa Hutchinson defeated businessmanCurtis Coleman in the Republican primary, earning the chance to win back the office for their party.^[15]

TheLibertarian Party and theGreen Party selected their candidates for governor by convention. Libertarian nomineeFrank Gilbert and Green Party nomineeJosh Drake appeared on the November 4 general election ballot with Ross and Hutchinson.^[18][19][20]

Money in the race

On May 13, 2014, candidates were required to file pre-primary campaign finance reports detailing their fundraising and expenditures since April 1. Before winning their respective parties' nominations on May 20,Mike Ross (D) andAsa Hutchinson (R) both reported spending more than they took in over the previous month. Ross outraised Hutchinson $491,000 to $240,375, and Hutchinson outspent Ross by about $80,000. A large portion of each candidates' campaign expenditures went toward television advertisements. This was especially true for Hutchinson, who spent $439,000 airing his ads across Arkansas—more than triple what Ross spent.^[21]

Heading into the May 20 primaries, Ross reported a remaining balance of $2 million, compared to Hutchinson's remaining balance of $904,000. Defeated GOP primary challengerCurtis Coleman raised $62,060 and spent $72,622 in April 2014, while Ross' Democratic primary opponentLynette Bryant failed to file by the reporting period deadline.^[22][21]

McDaniel cancels campaign

In June 2012, term-limitedArkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel (D) filed paperwork to start raising money for his 2014 gubernatorial campaign.^[23] McDaniel had been considered the Democratic frontrunner, but revelations that he had engaged in extra-martial relations with a Hot Springs attorney, Andi Davis, whom he met around his 2010 re-election, led to his withdrawal from the race.^[24] He dropped out of the race on January 25, 2013, explaining in an e-mail to supporters, "I had hoped that I could shape the 2014 gubernatorial debate with my vision for the future. Unfortunately, I am now convinced that if I run for Governor, this campaign would be about me personally, rather than Arkansas's future."^[25]

Ballot access for political parties

See also:Process for establishing a political party in Arkansas

InArkansas, the process to establish a political party is tied to the votes cast in a presidential or gubernatorial election. In order to initially put candidates on the ballot, political parties must submit a petition with 10,000 signatures. Then, in order to maintain that status beyond the election year in which they submit such a petition, their candidate for governor or president must receive at least 3 percent of the votes cast for that office.^[26][27]

In 2012, both theLibertarian andGreen parties of Arkansas qualified to put candidates on the ballot, but their candidates did not receive enough votes for the parties to maintain their ballot status. In the fall of 2013, both parties submitted new petitions and were qualified to put candidates on the 2014 ballot.^[28][29][30] In order to maintain their status as political parties without needing to petition for the 2016 elections, their candidates forgovernor had to receive at least 3 percent of the vote.Frank Gilbert (L) earned 1.9 percent of the vote andJosh Drake (G) earned 1.1 percent of the vote.

According to an April 2014 poll, the likelihood of the Libertarian and Green Parties to maintain their status in the state depended on who theDemocratic andRepublican Parties ran in the gubernatorial election. With nominees RepublicanAsa Hutchinson and DemocratMike Ross on the ballot, 3 percent of those polled said they would vote for the Libertarian candidate and 2 percent said they would vote for the Green Party candidate. Had DemocratLynette Bryant advanced with Hutchinson, those likely to vote for the Libertarian candidate remained the same while those likely to vote for the Green Party candidate rose to 4.5 percent. If RepublicanCurtis Coleman ran against Ross, those polled were more likely to vote for both the Libertarian and Green Party candidates when compared to a ballot including front-runners Ross and Hutchinson, who secured their respective parties' nominations the month after the poll was taken.^[31]

Campaign advertisements

Polls

See also:Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls=

General election
All candidates

**Due to the nature of the comparison, a placeholder figure of 0% is assigned to candidates not included in any given match-up roundHutchinson vs. Ross (April 2014 - present)

Hutchinson vs. Ross (February 2014 - April 2014)

Context of the 2018 election

Race rating

L2 header example for election pages

See also:Winning streaks in 2018 gubernatorial elections

Hutchinson's victory in the general election started a Republican winning streak in Arkansas gubernatorial elections. His back-to-back victories in 2014 and 2018 were one of three Republican winning streaks in state history, with the others occurring in 1966-1968 and 1998-2002. The longest Democratic winning streak in state history was 47 elections, occurring between 1874 and 1964.

Wave election analysis

See also:Wave elections (1918-2016)

The termwave election is frequently used to describe an election cycle in which one party makessignificant electoral gains. How many seats would Republicans have had to lose for the 2018 midterm election to be considered a wave election?

Ballotpedia examined the results of the 50 election cycles that occurred between 1918 and 2016—spanning from PresidentWoodrow Wilson's (D) second midterm in 1918 toDonald Trump's (R) first presidential election in 2016.We define wave elections as the 20 percent of elections in that period resulting in the greatest seat swings against the president's party.

Applying this definition togubernatorial elections, we found that Republicans needed to loseseven seats for 2018 to qualify as awave election.

The chart below shows the number of seats the president's party lost in the 11 gubernatorial waves from 1918 to 2016.Click here to read the full report.

State overview

Partisan control

This section details the partisan control of federal and state positions in Arkansas heading into the 2018 elections.

Congressional delegation

• Following the2016 elections, Republicans held both U.S. Senate seats in Arkansas.
• Republicans held all fourU.S. House seats in Arkansas.

State executives

• As of September 2018, Republicans held six of 12state executive positions. The remaining positions were officially nonpartisan.
• The governor of Arkansas was RepublicanAsa Hutchinson. The state heldelections forgovernor andlieutenant governor onNovember 6, 2018.

State legislature

• Republicans controlled both chambers of theArkansas General Assembly. They had a 75-24 majority in the state House and a 25-9 majority in the state Senate.

Trifecta status

• Arkansas was aRepublican trifecta, meaning that the Republican Party controlled the office of the governor, the state House, and the state Senate.

2018 elections

See also:Arkansas elections, 2018

Arkansas held elections for the following positions in 2018:

• Four U.S. House seats
• Governor and lieutenant governor
• Five lower state executive positions
• 18 of 35 state Senate seats
• 100 state House seats

Demographics

As of July 2016, Arkansas' three largest cities were Little Rock (pop. est. 198,606), Ft. Smith (pop. est. 88,037), and Fayetteville (pop. est. 85,257).^[34][35]

State election history

This section provides an overview of federal and state elections in Arkansas from 2000 to 2016. All data comes from theArkansas Secretary of State.

Historical elections

Presidential elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the presidential election in Arkansas every year from 2000 to 2016.

Election results (President of the United States), Arkansas 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Donald Trump	60.6%	Hillary Clinton	33.7%	26.9%
2012	Mitt Romney	60.6%	Barack Obama	36.9%	23.7%
2008	John McCain	58.7%	Barack Obama	38.9%	19.8%
2004	George W. Bush	54.3%	John Kerry	44.6%	9.7%
2000	George W. Bush	51.3%	Al Gore	45.9%	5.4%

U.S. Senate elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results ofU.S. Senate races in Arkansas from 2000 to 2016. Every state has two Senate seats, and each seat goes up for election every six years. The terms of the seats are staggered so that roughly one-third of the seats are up every two years.

Election results (U.S. Senator), Arkansas 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	John Boozman	59.8%	Conner Eldridge	36.2%	23.6%
2014	Tom Cotton	56.5%	Mark Pryor	39.4%	22.9%
2010	John Boozman	57.9%	Blanche Lincoln	37.0%	1.6%
2008	Mark Pryor	79.5%	Rebekah Kennedy(Green Party)	20.5%	59.0%
2004	Blanche Lincoln	55.9%	Jim Holt	44.1%	11.8%
2002	Mark Pryor	53.9%	Tim Hutchinson	46.1%	7.8%

Gubernatorial elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the four gubernatorial elections held between 2000 and 2016. Gubernatorial elections are held every four years in Arkansas.

Election results (Governor), Arkansas 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2014	Asa Hutchinson	55.4%	Mike Ross	46.3%	9.1%
2010	Mike Beebe	64.4%	Jim Keet	33.6%	30.8%
2006	Mike Beebe	55.6%	Asa Hutchinson	40.7%	14.9%
2002	Mike Huckabee	53.0%	Jimmie Lou Fisher	46.9%	6.1%

Congressional delegation, 2000-2016

This chart shows the number of Democrats and Republicans who were elected to represent Arkansas in theU.S. House from 2000 to 2016. Elections for U.S. House seats are held every two years.

Congressional delegation, Arkansas 2000-2016
Year	Republicans	Republicans (%)	Democrats	Democrats (%)	Balance of power
2016	4	100%	0	0%	R+4
2014	4	100%	0	0%	R+4
2012	4	100%	0	0%	R+4
2010	3	75%	1	25%	R+3
2008	1	25%	3	75%	D+3
2006	1	25%	3	75%	D+3
2004	1	25%	3	75%	D+3
2002	1	25%	3	75%	D+3
2000	1	25%	3	75%	D+3

Trifectas, 1992-2017

Astate government trifecta occurs when one party controls both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office.

Pivot Counties

See also:Pivot Counties by state

One of 75 Arkansas counties—1.33 percent—is aPivot County. Pivot Counties are counties that voted forBarack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and forDonald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

In the 2016 presidential election,Donald Trump (R) won Arkansas with 60.6 percent of the vote.Hillary Clinton (D) received 33.7 percent. In presidential elections between 1900 and 2016, Arkansas voted Democratic 66.67 percent of the time and Republican 30 percent of the time. In the five presidential elections between 2000 and 2016, Arkansas voted Republican all five times.

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the termsArkansas governor election 2018. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

See also

External links

Suggest a link

• Governor of Arkansas official website

Footnotes

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